3 Easy Ways to Keep Your Dog in Optimal Health

January

2020

Johnna Devereaux C.P.N.

Just like us, dogs depend on a diet of the real-deal good stuff to keep them healthy, day in and day out. Regardless of the kind of diet you feed--even the healthiest of dog foods can’t deliver everything your pup needs to be their healthiest.

Supplements to the rescue! Add in these three important dietary supplements to your dog’s daily diet to help them be as healthy as can be and look and feel their best.

1. Add in a whole food multi-vitamin to their diet

Vitamins made from whole foods are better for us and for our dogs for one simple reason: they’re packed with the vitamins and minerals our bodies need. While they may cost more, they’re worth the expense. Synthetic vitamins are altered chemically, and for this reason, our bodies (and our dogs’ bodies) process them differently than they were built to. Digestive systems are built to absorb vitamins and minerals from whole-food sources like plants and meat. Therefore, it’s best to give the body what it needs to do its job properly.

Why it’s important:

Most of what we feed our dogs is processed—which simply means that the ingredients have been altered by way of a temperature source. In turn, most of the nutrients in the original ingredients have been destroyed and must be added back to foods in order to meet minimum nutrient standards.

2. Add in a plant-based digestive enzyme, too

Digestive enzymes can help canine bodies better assimilate essential vitamins, minerals, and nutrients from the food they are eating. In addition, plant-based enzymes contain cellulose, a non-digestible plant fiber, which is not naturally occurring in dogs. In particular, it can help your dog digest the plant material found in so many dog foods.

Why it’s important:

Naturally occurring enzymes found in dog food are broken down and depleted in the heating/freezing temperatures when food is processed. So we have to put them back in!

3. Don’t forget the probiotics!

We need to give our dogs probiotics, because naturally existing probiotics in the intestinal tract are disrupted by processed foods, environmental pollutants, and the use of antibiotics. Probiotics are important because they help maintain normal bacterial populations found in the gastro-intestinal tract and are important to bowel health. Adding a probiotic to your dog’s diet is an easy way to help support the diversity of the microflora in the GI tract which supports their health.

Why it’s important:

Probiotics play an important role in supporting the innate immune responses and can help the body be less susceptible to disease.

This article is for informational purposes only. It is not, nor is it intended to be, a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment and should never be relied upon for specific medical advice.